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The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known as the

"thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs are so much
more than that. Before you even get to this thesis statement, for example, the essay should
begin with a "hook" that grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to read on. Examples
of effective hooks include relevant quotations ("no man is an island") or surprising statistics
("three out of four doctors report that…").

Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the thesis. The thesis
should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that leaves no doubt in the reader’s
mind about which side you are on from the beginning of your essay.

Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews the examples you will use
to support your thesis in the rest of the essay. Not only does this tell the reader what to expect in
the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a clearer understanding of what the essay is about.

Finally, designing the last sentence in this way has the added benefit of seamlessly moving the
reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper. In this way we can see that the basic
introduction does not need to be much more than three or four sentences in length. If yours is
much longer you might want to consider editing it down a bit!

Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in response to the following


question:

"Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful actions?"

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